Found: Darci Kane, and her son Robert, has found the sixth stone (N06) from the "Novato" fall
on 2012 November 11th No additional nearby fragments could be found: Total Known Weight (TKW) N06 stone = 23.7grams.

The "N06 stone" (not shown in-situ) was found by Darci Kane (and her son, Robert) on 2012Nov11.

The "N06 stone" is actually a fragment of a still unfound larger stone that broke up either before it hit the pavement (but after it had stopped ablating)or it actually hit the ground, fractured into pieces, and the "N06" fragment was the only piece that could be found. Unlike the "N04" stone, the exact spot where the "N06" mass actually hit the "ground" has not been ascertained. There were several rain-storms between the time this stone fell and when it was found, as well as other contributing factors which has compromised the possibility of finding any of the "missing" fragments. The missing pieces not withstanding, N05 appears to be predominately the black matrix (the portion that is the shock-darkened impact melt)and very little fusion-crust.

Found: Jason Utas has found the fifth stone (N05) from the "Novato" fall Including as many nearby fragments that could be found (TKW = 24.3g).

The "N05 stone" (not shown in-situ) was found by Jason Utas on 2012Nov02.

The "N05 stone" is actually an assortment of fragments, and although Jason has searched hard (and is still searching), there are not enough fragments in order to reconstruct a complete stone. There were several rain-storms between the time this stone fell and when it was found, as well as other contributing factors which has compromised the possibility of finding all of the fragments. The missing pieces not withstanding, N05 appears to be the first find from this fall that is mono-lithologic, not having the dual-lithology of the previous find, that of light-colored L6 chondritic clasts set in a black matrix of shock-darkened impact melt. Each fragment appears to have a portion of well-adhered fusion-crust.

The spot where the "N04" stone impacted is now a shallow depression in street asphalt and is 60 feet (18.5m) from where the meteorite finally landed in the gutter.

This is the side of the "N04" stone has been deemed the "bottom-side".

The "bottom-side" of the Novato04 stone was the side that was in contact with the gutter, where it was found. As a consequence, it most likely was sitting in rainwater after one of the storms that occurred between the time of the fall and when it was found. The "bottom-side" has the most rust-spots. Given that the "N04" stone has so few scratches, it is assumed that the "bottom-side" is the side that made the initial impact with the asphalt, producing the shallow divet. As a consequence, an unknown amount of chondritic material from the "bottom-side" was pulverized in the process, but only ~10grams of small fragments have been recovered.

This side of the "N04" stone shows the "dual-lithology" of this meteorite (and small patches of fusion-crust).

("Click" on the above image in order to see it full-size.) Novato04 is two meteorites in one stone. One half is a monomict breccia of equilibrated (L6) chondritic parent material, set in the other half, which is a shock-darkened impact-melt. It is my observation that the patches of fusion-crust are of two types, as well. It is my assertion that both types of fusion-crust were each derived locally from the melting of the immediate, underlying lithology and that there was no mixing of these different melts prior to the crust solidifying. This assertion is based upon the following observations. The patches of fusion-crust in contact with the "chondritic material" look similiar to the fusion-crust seen on other fresh chondrites, whereas, the smaller patches of fusion-crust in contact with the black, "shock-darkened lithology" appear to have been more viscous before they solidified. The patches of fusion-crust in contact with the "chondritic material" look larger, because they appear to have adhered better to that portion of the stone, whereas, the smaller patches of fusion-crust in contact with the black lithology, even though they look to have a higher degree of viscosity, much like a drop of molten solder that is in need of more flux, they appear to have had more difficulty adhering to that portion of the meteorite. The fusion-crust derived from the lighter-colored lithology adhers like glaze on a ceramic. The darker-colored lithology is lacking a "flux" that would allow the fusion-crust to adhere better.

To see the CBS-Local TV News item about the Novato04 stone, with more images and a video, "Click" HERE!